Car-wheel.



No. 851,464. PATENTED APR. 23, 1907.

R. P. WILLIAMS.

CAR WHEEL.

uruonmn x'ILnn 111:0. 11. 1906.

W/TNESSES INVENTOR floerZZ/Ifilzkzma Specification of Letters Patent.

UNITED STATES PATEN T @FFTCE.

CAR-WHEEL.

Patented April 23, 1907.

Application filed December 11.1906. Serial lilo. 347,261.

To (all w/w'nt it 'lrmy coll/007%:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT Pon'r IL- LIAMS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Santa Barbara, in the county of Santa Barbara and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Car-Wheel, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in car wheels and safety devices adapted to be used in connection therewith, the wheel being so constructed that should the flange thereof become broken the safety de vice will immediately operate to open an air valve and set the brakes.

The invention consists of a cast metal wheel having the flange thereof so formed tem having a valve therein so constructed and located in relation to the car wheel that should the latter become broken the brakes will operate to immediately stop the train.

The invention further consists in certain special features of construction and combination of parts, all of which will be fully set forth hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device embodying my invention; and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

My improved car wheel may be of any desired shape or size and cast in any suitable manner, the hub 1, the tread 2 and the flange 3 being similar to the wheels now commonly employed. The wheel is illustrated in connection with an axle 4: having a bearing 5 and as resting upon a railroad rail 6. In constructing my improved wheel, I cast within the flange thereof a plurality of radial wires or bars 7 of any suitable tough and flexible metal. These bars may be of malleable iron or of copper, it being only essential that they be of a material which may be bent without being broken. The wires or bars 7 wheel and closely adjacent thereto.

extend radially from a point intermediate the tread and the hub to a point adjacent the outer circumference of the flange 3, and as many may be employed and placed as closely together as may be found necessary. Carricd by the car is a train pipe 8 of the air brake system, and 1 provide this pipe with a branch pipe 9 terminating at a point adj acent the llange 3 of the wheel. The outer end of the pipe Qis provided with an inwardly-dirccted flange 1O constituting a valve seat, and within the pipe and resting upon this seat is a valve plate 11 held in place by a suitable spring 12. The valve plate 11 is provided with a valve stem 13 of a diameter somewhat less than the opening in the end of the pipe, and this valve stem extends to a position beside the flange of the The valve plate 11 is held in place solely by the action of the spring 12, and the valve may be opened by the movement of the valve stem 13 in any direction, as any movement of the valve stem would tip the valve plate 11 and permit the passage of air through the valve.

Very many disastrous accidents and wrecks have occurred due to the breaking of the flange of a car wheel, and after said flange is broken the wheel may still travel along the rail for a considerable length of time before leaving the rail to cause the wreck. By means of my improved construction above described, it is evident that should any obstacle come in contact with the flange of a car wheel so as to break it, said flange would not be dissevered but would be merely bent outward, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The cast metal portion of the flange could become completely broken, but the tiebars or rods 7 extending out into said flange and being of tough metal not easily broken, would prevent the broken cast metal portion from falling off and would hold it in such a position that it would strike the valve stem 13 and open the valve. Thus it is seen that as soon as the flange of any car wheel is broken the air brakes of the entire train could be set and the train immediately stopped before the broken wheel would leave the track to cause a wreck of the train. The valve would also operate in case the wheel becomes loosened on the shaft and moved longitudinally thereof, or in case the flange of the wheel should from any other reason Vary its relationship to the car truck. Even though the parts of the flange should become entirely broken away and be severed from the remaining portion of the wheel, some one of the tie-bars 7 would in all probability be bent and remain at such an angle as to strike the valve stem 18 and operate the air brakes.

It is evident that various changes may be made Within the scope of the appended claims, whereby the breaking or bending of the car flange or other portion of the car Wheel serves to operate the air brakes of the train, as the specific device above described involves only one embodiment of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A car Wheel formed of cast metal and having a plurality of independent radial tie bars cast therein.

2. A car Wheel formed of cast metal and having a plurality of independent radial tie bars of malleable metal cast therein.

3. A car Wheel formed of cast metal and having a flange and a plurality of independent tie bars extending into said flange.

4. A car wheel formed of cast metal and having a flange and a plurality of independent radial tie bars extending into said flange.

5. A car wheel formed of cast metal and having a flange and a plurality of independent tie-bars of tough metal extending into ROBERT PORT WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

'FRANK BROOKS FOSTER, IDA M. BAYLEY. 

